Engine-starter.



G. W. ROTH. ENGINE STARTER. APPLIGATION FILED JUNE 1o, 1910.

.Patented Nov. 4, 1913.

3 SHEETS-SHEET l.

ATTORNEY.

G. W. IQOTH. ENGINE STARTER. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 10, 1910.

Patented Nov. 4, 1913.

v /NI/ENTUR;

@am WJ/Ezg ATTORNEY.

WTNESSES:

G. W. RUTH. ENGINB'STARTBR.

APPLICATION FILED .TUNE 10, 1910; v 3,077,858 Patented Nov. 4, 1913.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

ATTORNEY.

tin-Tira s ATES in FFCE- Grinsen' vv. nenn, er JACKSON TOWNSHIP, BROWN couNfrr, INnIANn, ASS1eNon,-BY :Dinner .sNn MESNE assrsNnnNrS, fro esoneri EVANS, or nvANSvILLE,

rNniaNfi.

'ENGINE-STARTER.

Application-filed .Tune 10, 1910. Serial No. 5663.31.

To all whom if may concern:

Be it known that Il, GIBSON W. Romita citizen of the `lnited' Jackson township, in the county of Brown and State of indiana', have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Engine-Starters; and dio declare the fol'- lowing to be a full, cl`ear,`and exact description of the invention, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters and figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specitication.

This invention relates to means for starting internal combustion engines, particularly' such as are employed in the construction of automobiles and similar motor vehicles, the invention liaving reference particularly to apparatus whereby fluid pres'- sure may bc utilized Vin the explosion cylind'ers and upon pistons for starting the engine or engines when at rest; and the inventionhas reference also to an improved method of starting explosion engines by means of iiuid pressure.

The object oi' the invention is to provide an improved method of and means for starting explosion engines promptly when stopped temporarily, so as to eife'ctually guard against accidents which may be due to inadvertent stopping of" the engine, particularlyivhen automobiles are on railroad crossings', or when another vehicle might collide with it.

A.' further object is to provide an engine -starter of the above-mentioned character that will be adaptedt'o be manufactured at small cost and 'be convenient in operation, and be durable andi economical in use; a still further object being to provide an engine starter that will be adapted to be used in connection with automobile engines of the explosion type and be' adapted to be controlled by means of a single'device' either by hand nr toot'operated connections.

The invention comprises improved apparatus, in combination in a novel manner with one or more `engine. explosion cylinders f and also with the mechanism ot' the engine,

'enabling ani operatorio admit fluid pres sure to the cylinder or 'cylinders for start States, residing in` ing the engine; and the invention consists further' iii the parts', and combinations and arrangements of parts, as hereinafter par ticularly described and claimed.

Referring t0 the drawings, Figure 1 is a top plan of a common type of Vtour cylinder explosion engine with Which the invention is connected; Fig. 2, a vertical sectional elevation` of the same in which the crank-box'- is in section at the plane of the cam-shaft that operates intake and exhaust valves; Fig. 3, an end elevation of the engine and starting appara.- tus partially in section ;4 Fig. Ll, a vertical sectional view on the line A A. in Fig. 2; Fig. 5, aj fragmentary section on the line B B inFig. 2; Fig.` 6, a fragmentary' verticai section at the plane of the line C C in Fig. 3; Fig. 7, a fragmentary detail of a moditication in construction; Fig. 8, a fragmentary sectionalv view on the line D D in Fig. G; Fig; 9, a horizontal section on thelin.i Fi E in Fig. 8; Fig. 10, a perspective vienf ot the controlling valve for admitting fluid pressure to the cylinders; Fig. 11, a Jragmentary section approximately on the line F F in Fig. 2 Show-1n a mr'idification 1n construction; Fig. 12, a ragmentary section also on the line F F in Fig. 2 showing another' modiiication in construction; Fig. 13, a diagrammatical illustration in broken lines'shoiving the arrangement of the princi'- pal parts ot the engine perspectively, and clearly indicating the arrangement of the conduits bet-Ween the controlling valve and the cylinders whereby' the fluid pressure is admitted to the cylinders in sequence corresponding to the order in which explosions normally occur; Fig. 14, an elevation of the controlling valve With a modified ar'- rangement by which it may be connected to the engine for operation; and Fig'. 15', a'- plan of the controlling valve cheSt ports through which the fluid pressure passes to the engine cylinders. I

Similar reference characters in the different figures of the drawings indicate like partis' or' features herein referred to;-

n order that the improved means for starting explosion engines may' be clearly understood, the essential features2 of a four Patented Nov. 4, 19413.

cylinder explosion engine are illustrated, and it should be understood that an engine having any desired number of cylinders may be started equally Well in accordance with theinvention.

l In the drawings the construction of the engine Will be readily understood, the numeral 1 indicating the main frame which with an oil reservoir 1 connected thereto constitutes the crank-box on which four identical cylinders 2, 2'?, '26, 21, are mounted, each cylinder having an explosion chest 3 thereon which is in communication with the upper portion of the cylinder and provided with the usual intake valve 4: and exhaust .valve 5 provided respectively with operati stems 4 vand 5', the top of each explosion chest having the usualopenings therein above the valves through which the valves may be inserted`or Withdrawn for repairs, the openings having closures 6 and 7 therein and in the present case the closure 6 instead of being in the form of a plug as usual is constructed as a bushing through'wliich the fluid pressure may be admit-ted into the cylinder.

The numeral 8 indicates the intake and 9 the exhaust pipe for each cylinder., Each cylinder, of course, has a piston 10 therein to .which is connected a pitman 1l as usual, 12 indicating the crank shaft havino' four cranks 13a, 13b, 13", 13", to each of wliich a pitman,is connected as usual. The engine is of the type that has a cam shaft 14 mounted in the crank-box conveniently near to the crankshaft and it has a suitable number of cams 15 thereon for operating the `stems of the intake valves, 16 for operating the stems of the exhaust valves, the shaft 14 having a gear Wheel 17 secured thereto which is-in mesh with a smaller'gear Wheel 18 which is secured to the crank shaft 12, the arrangement Ibeing such that the crankshaft makes two revolutions to one of the cam shaft as is usual.

In carrying out the objects of the invention a sultable main valve is lJrovided for controlling the admission of iuid pressure to the cylinders and it maybe variously connected with the engine mechanism, so as to be operated thereby preferably at the same rate of speed as the cani shaft of the eno-ine such arran ement iermittin simtion with thecam shaft, and ,it

plicity of construction; and in carrying out this idea themai-n valve is shown in connecpreferably comprises a body part 19 ofavalvechest preferably provided with a bracket 2O by which it is supported on the crank-box of the engine, the valve-chest head 21 that is integral with the body part and a removable opposing head 22, the headi 21 having a journal-box 23 thereon to which' an oil-cup 24 is connected. A shaft 25 is and other cams' comprising a' rotatively mounted in the journabbon and has a squared shank 25 on its outer end which is inserted in a suitable socket '26 formed in the outer end of the cam shaft 14. The opposite end of the shaft 25 which extends into the valve-chest has a disk-valve 27 secured thereto that is seated movably against the inner side of the head 21, the latter'constituting a valve-seat against which. the valve moves rotatively in operation, the valve 27 having a port 28 therein at a suit'- able distance from its axis. The head 21 of the valve-chest. has four ports 29, 30, 31 and 32 therein, arranged in a circle about the axis of the shaft 25 at the same. distance therefrom as the port 28 is from the anis, and it Will be seen bthat when the port is between two of the ports in the head all the ports in the head are covered and on rotation of the valve 27 each port in the yvalve-seat or head 21 is opened and then closed in succession. It will be understood that the head 21 has the same number of ports as therev are cylinders and consequently in every case the number of ports must correspond to the number of cylinders coin prised in the engine, unless in some cases it be desired to use only a limited number ofl the cylinders when there are manyforv starting the engine, it being evident that if there be six or eight cylinders the engine may be' readily started When not loaded by admitting the fluid pressure into only one or several of the cylinders. In the present case as illustrating,r the invention four fiuid pressure conduits 33, 34, 35 and 36 are connected 'with the ports 29, 30, 3l and 32ren spectively, and the conduits are suitably arranged and connected so as to conduct iduid pressure to the cylinders 21, 2, 2d ant. 'Eb in succession corresponding to thel orfw Which explosions occur 1n the cylinders commonly arranged.

' Referrlng to Fig. 13 the broken lines 34', 35" and 36 indicate the respective conduits in the order mentioned and their relai. tive arrangements with the ports and the.

cylinders.

As shown the bushing .6 connected to the explosion-chest of the cylinn der 2a has a suitable valve-body 37 connect ed thereto in which is a plug-valve 38 prdvided With an operating arm 39; the cylinder 2h is likewise provided with a valve com prising a body 40, a plug-valve 41 and operating-arm 422 The cylinder 2C is provided also with a valve coinprising'a body e3, and a valve 44 havingY an arm (t5, and the cylindei` 2d is similarly provided with a vsiv-e comprising a body e6, a plugvalve lil/" 1 and o erating arm 48. The valves are all of id)entical construction and preferably of the stop-cock type indicated, although they may be of other types for preventing flow of fluid from the cylinders to thecontrolling Levanta valve. The conduit 33 is connected to the valve body 37 the conduit 36 is Connected to the valve body `v40;l the conduit 34 is connected to the valve body 43'; and the conduit 35 is connected to the valve body 46. The valves are adapted to open or close communication between the conduits and the explosion chests and consequently with re-V spective cylinders, and it will be seen that when the 'valves are opened the fluid pressure is conducted successively tothe first, third, fourth and second cylinders in the order of their arrangement from left to righ-t, in which order it is usually arranged that explosion-s occur, the arrangement, of course, depending upon the setting of the cams 15 and 16 on the cam shaft 14 for the valves of the different cylinders, as will be understood. A

fr conduit 49 is connected to the valvechest body 19 and preferably has a suitable starting valve-body 50 connected thereto to which a. supply-pipe 49 is connected, there being a starting-valve 5l 4rotative 1n the valve body 50 and provided with an operating arm 52. Theop'rating arms 39, 42, 45, 48 and 52 are each provided with'a pivot 53 and an operating rod 54 is-connected to all the pivots, so as to opera-te and control all the operating arms simultaneously. The operating rod 54 obviously may be extended to any desired point where it may be conveniently reached for operation.

The starting valve and body may be variouslyv constructed and varranged at a suitable distance froin the controlling valve.

The supply-pipe 49 may be variously supplied with iiuid pressure, but for economic reasons compressed air is utilized in the present case. A suitable reservoir 55 is provided which has supporting devices 56 and 56 y thereon of suitable construction whereby the reservoir may be connected to a convenient frame or support, and preferably the reservoir 'is r|:i v1ded'with 'a suitable pop-valve 57 for preventing over-pressure therein, but obviously over-pressure may be otherwise prevented if preferred.

An air compressor preferably comprising a cylinder 58 is employed and suitably operated, preferably by means of an eccentric 59 secured to the crank shaft 12'and having an eccentric strap 60 thereon provided with an eccentric-rod 61 which is pivotally con-v nected to the pump-rod or plunger 62 that coperates with the cylinder for creating the required air-pressure, the air compresser being connected to the pipe 63 which is connected with the reservoirl 55 and preferably has a retaining valve 64 connected therewith which may be closed for'holding the pressure in the reservoir when the engine is at rest during long periods of time.

' from the cylinder heads.

By reference to Fig. 11 it will be seen that the valve-'body '37 is connected tothe front of the explosioirchest 3 instead of being mounted on the top thereof as hereinbefore described, and has a plug valve 38 therein provided with an operating arm 39 con? veniently connected to the operatingrod 54,

lthis arrangement being convenient 1n some cases. In other cases it may be convenient to modify the arrangement as shown in Fig. 12 in which a correspondin valve body 37v is connected to the cylinder-head 2 and provided with a plug-valve 38 and operating arm 39".

When not convenient to providethe cam shaft 14 with the socket 26 the shaft 25 may be connected directly to a socket coupling 65 which may besecured to the shaft 14`by means of a pin 66 as illustrated in Fig. 7

In case it be desired to connect the sha-ft 25 of the main or controlling valve otherwise than as hereinbefore described the shaft 25 is provided with a ,gear-wheel 67 as in Fig. 14 which is of the same diameter as the geanwheel 17 and therefore may be driven in connection therewith, or obviously the gear wheel 67 may be arranged in mesh with the gear-wheel 18, so as to be driven directly thereby, the result in either case being that the shaft 25 rotates at the same speed as the cam shaft 14.

It will be clear from the foregoing that various other modifications than those indicated with respect to minor details of con' struction may fairly be made within the scope of the appended claims, as, obviously thevalves connected withthe conduits 33, 34, 35 and 36 may be variously constructed and operated.

In practical use, the reservoir 55 being assumed to contain compressed air and the engine being at rest the operator simply moves the operating-rod '54 in the required direction, so as to open communication'between the reservoir and the valvelchest of the controlling valve for supplying air through the. conduits to the cylinders.`

When the explosion engine stops it will 'be understood that owing to compressions in the cylinders when the pistons rise the cranks' doy not stop on dead centers and therefore the pistons stop at some distancelt will be clear, therefore that at least one piston may be eX- pected to be approximateiy in the posifonl illustrated in Fig.-4 or probably lower, so that when the compressed air 1s admitted upon the piston the latter is forced down and causes the crank-shaft to rotate.A It will be .apparent also that inasmuch as the valve 27 operates in unison with the camshaft 14 the compressed air is admitted through the different conduits, into the different cylinders at the actuate lthe pistons therein in the order in Which they would be actuated if explosions `vent the explosive force in the cylin ers from entering, the conduits connected therewith. When the reservoir 55 is exhausted of its supply it will be understood that the reservoir may be charged in any suitable manner or the engine may first be started in the usual manner by hand. After the engine is in operation it will be clear that Afor admitting explosion it will y automatically keep the reservoir filled with compressed air ready for use.

Having thus described the invention, What is claimed as new, 4is

1. In an engine-starter, the combination of an explosion-cylinder, a crank-shaft, a piston movable in the explosion-cylinder and connected With the crank-shaft, a reservoir, an air-compressor operatively connected with the crank-shaft, a cond-uit connected With the air-compressor and the reservoir, a stop-valve connected with inder, a conduit connected with the stopvalve, a'supply-conduit connected to the reservoir and having a stop-valve therein, an operating-rod connected with the stopvalves for simultaneous operation thereof, and a main valve connected with the second-mentioned conduit and the supply-conduit and operatively connected also with the crank-shaft for controlling admission of compressed air to the explosion-cylinder on outward-strokes of'the piston, with means charges to the explosion-cylinder at sequential times succeedlng the admission of compressed-air thereto.

2. In an engine-starter, the combination with an explosion-cylinder, a main shaft, a piston in the explosion-cylinder connected vWltli the main shaft, a valve-operating-shaft operatively connected with the main shaft,

.a trame-supporting the explosion-cylinder,

'and means controlled by the valve-operatair-compressor `connected with the reservoir,l

ing-shaft for` admitting explosion charges to the ex] )losioncylinder, of a reservoir, an

a stop-valve connected with the explosioncylinder, a conduit connected with the stopvalve, a valve-chest connected with the conduit and rovided` With a valve-seat having a port threin extending to the conduit, a

proper periods to y ders mounted the explosion-cyll arm, a plurality of stop-valve bracket secured to the frame and supporting the' valve-chest, a rotative shaft mounted in the valve-chest and driven by the valve-operating-shaft, a main valve inthe rvalve-chest secured to the rotative shaft forl opening or closing the port, and a suppllyconduit connected with the reservoir and t e valve-chest.

3. In an engine starter, the combination.

with a frame, a plurality of explosion-cylinon the frame, a crank-shaft mounted in the frame, pistons in the explosion-cylinders connected with the crankshaft, and means operatively connected with the crank shaft for admitting explosion charges into the explosion-cylinders, of -al reservoir, an air-com ressor connected operatively with the cranlklr-shaft, a conduit connected with the air-compressor and the reservoir, a supply-conduit connected with the reservoir, a starting-valve body connected to the supply-conduit, a valve operatively mounted in the starting valve body and having an operating-arm thereon, a plurality of stop-valve bodies connected each with a different one of the explosion cylinders, stop valves operatively mounted in the stopvalve bodies and having each an operating arm thereon, a plurality of pi es connected each to a different one of t e stop-Valve bodies, a valve-chest connecte with the starting-valve body and also v'i'-, 'n the plurality of pipes and having orts therefor, a bracket connected substantially with the frame and supporting the valve-chest in proximity to the frame, a valve-shaft ro tative in the valve-chest; gearing operatively connecting the valve-shaft with the crankshaft, a main valve in the valve-chest fixedI to the valve-shaft for opening or closing the ports, and an operating-rod pivotally connected to all of the operating-arms.

4. In an engine starter, the combination With a frame,

a plurality of explosion-cylinders mounted on the frame, a crank-shaft rotatably mounted in the frame, pistons movablein the explosion-cylinders and connected lWith the crank-shaft, and means operatively conlOO nected with the crank-shaft for admitting,

explosion charges into the explosion-cylinders, or" a closed reservoir, an air-compressor operatively connected With the crank-shaft, a conduit connected with. the air-compressor and the reservoir, a pressure-retaining valve in the conduit, a supply conduit connected with the reserio-ir, a starting-valve body connected to the supply-conduit, a valve operatively mounted in the starting-valve body and having an operating-arm thereon, an operating-rod connected to the operatingbodies connectcd each with a different one of the explosion cylinders, stop valves movably mounted in the stop-valve bodies, a plural- 'the valve-chest, `gearing and a main vave in the ity of pipes connected each to a dferent one of the stop-valve bodies, a valve-chest connected with the startingwalve body and also with the pluzalty of pipes andhaving ports therefor, a valveshat movable in operatively connesting the vulve-shaft with the crank-shaft, valve-chest iXed.

to the Valve-shaft for opening or closing the ports. 10

n testimony whereof, I aX my signature 'n presence of two Witnesses.

GILSON W. ROTH.

` 'Wtnesses:

E. T. SILvlUs, K. R. VVODDELL. 

